AMMAN — Eleven countries, including Jordan, along with regional and international organisations, issued a joint statement on Wednesday condemning the Israeli Knesset’s approval of a declaration to impose so-called “Israeli sovereignty” over the occupied West Bank, the Foreign Ministry announced.

 

The statement, issued by Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the League of Arab States, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, described the move as a blatant and unacceptable violation of international law and a flagrant breach of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, foremost among them Resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), and 2334 (2016), all of which affirm the invalidity of all measures and decisions that seek to legitimize the occupation, including settlement activities in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.

 

The signatories reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over the Occupied Palestinian Territory, stressing that this unilateral Israeli move has no legal effect and cannot alter the legal status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, foremost among it East Jerusalem, which remains an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

 

They also emphasized that such Israeli actions would only fuel the growing tension in the region, which has been exacerbated by the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the resulting humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip.

 

The statement also called on the international community, including the Security Council and all relevant actors, to shoulder their legal and moral responsibilities, and to act to halt Israel’s illegal policies aimed at imposing a fait accompli by force, undermining the prospects for a just and lasting peace, and the prospects of the two-state solution.

 

They also reaffirmed their commitment to the two-state solution based on international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative, and to the realization of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.